Kids 'saved Mommy's life'

4:17 PM,
Dec. 31, 2012

Fire destroyed a home on Ridge Hill Drive in Higland Heights early Monday.

Written by

Firefighters credit a young boy and a teenage girl with saving their mother as their house burned early Monday.

Liam Ostendorf, 9, was playing video games at about 3 a.m. while his sister, Olivia, 13, watched TV, when they began to smell smoke. Olivia looked out the window and saw flames, presumably coming from the basement of the Ridge Hill Drive home. The two quickly woke their mother, Carla, who had gone to bed but allowed the children to stay up late because they're on a school break.

"They were smart and quick, and they knew what to do," Carla Ostendorf said. "They're my little heroes; they ...